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Tuesday
The judges have stopped being polite and have started getting...well, if not real, at least more critical. Magni does "My Generation," leaving us to wonder for another week how he'd do with a song that's less than forty years old. Jenny's "Tainted Love" starts slow and stays that way a bit too long, and the show's director isn't doing her any favors either. Jill does an ill-advised Courtney Love impersonation with Hole's "Violet," and then makes it worse by not copping to it. Zayra gets more credit for smarting off to the guys than for her singing, which is still not good. Chris tempts fate again with a tuneless rendition of Franz Ferdinand's "Take Me Out," and I'm sure that there are many viewers who would be happy to oblige. Dilana takes a big risk with "Ring Of Fire," which everyone loves, but the judges milk her obvious nervousness about it at first. Creed is clearly not Josh's thing, but it doesn't stop him from attempting "With Arms Wide Open." Phil's "If You Can Only See" earns him more of the same feedback: good singing, don't be such a dork onstage. Storm does "Surrender" by Cheap Trick, which is less about her voice than her goofy faces. Patrice sings "Heart-Shaped Box" with a big, green, guitar-shaped anchor slung over her shoulder, but manages to more or less pull it off. After blowing everyone away last week, Lukas decides to do something different, so his mid-tempo Coldplay cover blows nobody away. Ryan gets way out of his depth on "Jumpin' Jack Flash" and Tommy pronounces Dana's Steppenwolf cover "Born To Be Mild." And then another week ends with a strong performance, as Toby's outside-voice turns out to be a great fit for the Killers' "Somebody Told Me." The early bottom three? Zayra, Chris, and Jill. I'm not too worried that we'll lose Jill, which paradoxically makes me worried that we're going to lose Jill.
Wednesday
Tonight's theme: Constructive criticism, and how to take it. Chris, Zayra, and Jill struggle with it in different ways; Lukas can't take it at all; and Toby says he welcomes it. Easy for him to say, since he has yet to receive any. Plus, he gets the honor of doing tonight's encore. Last night's early bottom three were Chris, Jill, and Zayra, but tonight we learn that Jenny also trailed in the polls at some point during voting. Playing it straight this time, Jill both redeems herself and shows up Zayra by nailing "Bring Me to Life," which Zayra did last week but not nearly as well. Zayra shows herself up by doing the same thing she did last night, only a little better. That leaves Jenny and Chris, and once again it's the latter who has to sing to stay in the game. He does the acoustic version of Tonic's "If You Could Only See," and while he fails to show up Phil, he doesn't humiliate himself, either. Dave says that it's Chris's best performance to date, and Supernova compliments him on his mature attitude, his willingness to accept criticism, and his flexibility in incorporating it into his performances. Fat lot of good it does him, because they boot him anyway. Want more? The full recap starts right below!
Shout out this week to Supernova. Not the band on the show, but the Orange County punk band with the same name who are suing them for trademark infringement. From what I hear, Butch Walker didn't exactly help our guys' case much. Of course, they don't mention the lawsuit on the air this week, but I have a theory as to why we haven't seen or heard from Butch since the first episode.
Tuesday
Brooke's in an orange formal this week, because now that the nominations have come out she figures there's no point saving it for the Emmys. She introduces the show and points out the remaining fourteen Supernovices in what was formerly the Peanut Gallery. And which is now simply the Nut Gallery (shout-out to stlouischili). She introduces the show, the guys from Supernova (already seated), and Dave (also already seated), and gives a quick recap of how Matt got booted. We get a short clip of Matt's elimination, and then we're back. Tommy, wearing his sunglasses inside, mock-laments his position as "Hatchet Guy," and says that he was "so sad to let Matt go." Gilby warns the finalists that they went easy on them last week, and then he cackles a little as Tommy agrees. Gilby tells them not to take anything personally; they're just looking for the best singer. Jason just tells everyone to do their best, and Dave kicks it back to Brooke.
So we're not even two minutes in, and Brooke is already introducing Magni. Where's the filler? I guess with two-thirds of the time they had last week and fourteen-fifteenths of the singers to get through, they have to keep things moving. No monterviews this time around, either, which is good because they're a pain in the ass to recap. Regarding Magni's performance last week, Brooke reminds us of Dave's "Vegas" judgment, and remarks that Magni hopes that "what sounds like Vegas, stays in Vegas." I think using a joke is required by law every time the subject comes up. Like last week, tonight's performances kick off with a Who song. Between this show and all the CSIs, CBS is turning into the Pete Townshend network or something. Magni's doing "My Generation," even though his generation is at least two removed from the one this song is about. He sounds fine, wisely omitting the stuttering in the original, but the House Band sounds fucking great, with the backing vocals and half of the bass solo that makes me wish they had time for all of it. The crowd loves it. Jason tells Magni that his experience in "Ice Land" is showing through here, which is good. Tommy: "I thought it was a little ho-hum. And I liked the ho; just needed a little more hum." "Okay, man," Magni says, clearly not understanding what Tommy's talking about, and very much not alone. Who'da thunk Tommy would end up being both the Trump and the Paula?
Jenny's doing "Tainted Love" by Soft Cell. My old band never did quite nail this one for some reason. One time, we even tried it with me singing from behind the drum kit, which was stupid because officially I neither sing nor play drums. But we're talking about Jenny now. No guitar for her this time, but she's behind the microphone stand again. It starts out slow and quiet, which gives us plenty of time to be distracted by how unnecessarily closely the camera's zoomed in on her face. She looks kind of uncomfortable, actually, with her shoulders bunched up to her head the way mine are when I walk into a Wal-Mart Christmas week. The song slowly picks up in the prechorus, and by the time she's reached the chorus, she's pulled the mic off the stand and is working her way down the runway, looking marginally less uncomfortable but still kind of stiff. The band rocks it out, with crunchy guitars in place of the '80s synthesizers on the original. Tommy's on his feet, dancing like the drunkest uncle at a wedding. The drawback is that after the slow verse, now she only has time for one chorus, so it seems like it's barely gotten started before it's over. Gilby says that he wasn't into the beginning so much, but he liked the end. Jenny says that she was "looking for contrast." Which she got. I would submit that contrast in and of itself isn't necessarily a good thing, particularly when you end up with a contrast between "not very good" and "okay." Jason likes the new arrangement she worked out with the House Band, and I agree. I would agree more if there had been more than two minutes for a slow build from zero to rockin'. Dave tells her, "Great job, making an old song work." And then, because she's standing alone onstage in a midriff-baring top, he remarks, with a smile, "You look like you're starving. Go get a sandwich." Dude, that's...kind of rude. Jenny laughs it off (for now) and leaves the stage, and Dave has no idea what he just did to my forums.
Brooke's introduction of Jill recalls Jason's comparison of her to a stick of dynamite. We get a glimpse of her waiting in the wings, dressed in a flouncy, knee-length wedding dress and veil and holding a bouquet of roses. Uh-oh. Looks like she decided to try and upgrade from conventional explosives to nuclear, but is likely to just end up radioactive. Brooke tells us that Jill's singing a song by Hole, as if we couldn't tell by Jill's costume.
And, now, this is just disappointing. Because in this week's webisode, there was a little scene where Zayra initially ended up with "Violet," and Jill was trying to help her out by singing it to her. And she sounded awesome, better than the original, just belting it out there in the Rock Star mansion. Meanwhile, in another room, Josh and someone else were like, "Is that Zayra? It sounds really good. Ah, that means it's Jill." Which is why it's sad when she comes out in her little kinderwhore outfit and Gilby just laughs at her. The song starts and she bride-walks down the runway during the first verse, but then she ditches the veil and she's screaming and lurching around, throwing her roses into the audience (hope you de-thorned those, lawsuit-bait), jumping up and down and generally making an ass of herself. It's great Halloween karaoke, but it's not a good performance, and pitch-wise she's as flat as Courtney herself. But then it goes to a Madonna at the 1984 MTV Video Awards kind of place when she winds it up flat on her back, her skirt up around her waist so we can all see her black granny-panties. That's what folks in the music biz call a "grace note."
Dave waits for her to get up, then says that while he appreciates her willingness to get into it, "the whole Courtney Love impersonation thing was a little uncomfortable." Jill claims not to know what Courtney Love did and that it was her interpretation. Over the rising cheers, she insists, "This was Jill Gioia coming out of her box!" Even though at the end of the performance it was almost vice versa for a second there. Dave doesn't let it go, telling her that she's sporting the look from the cover of the album in question. And, seriously, Jill. I remember when Live Through This was to the checkout lane at Target, so it's not like this is some obscure little indie disc we're talking about. Of the actual performance, Gilby remarks, "I think you're a better singer than what you just screamed." Tommy, of course, just wants to know if Jill's wearing panties. I guess the audience blocked his view from where he was sitting. Jill plays it mysterious, like the rest of us couldn't read the damn label on them thirty seconds ago. But just you wait and see if the judges platform isn't a couple of feet higher week. Over at the Nut Gallery, Jenny gives Jill a standing ovation. And then Jill has to stare into the camera and pretend that she's not pissed while Brooke towers to her, giving the voting instructions. Jill's much better at pretending she's Courtney Love. Brooke promises that Chris is coming up : "Can he redeem himself in front of Supernova?" What's funny is you can totally tell that Chris thinks he's already redeemed.
Coming back, Brooke reminds us that Zayra got a marriage proposal from Jason after her performance last week. Jason looks rightly mortified. This week, Zayra's singing "You Really Got Me" by the Kinks. And I have to admit, the arrangement is really cool. It's a complete departure from any version of this song I've ever heard, all percussive and exotic and mysterious, almost Middle-Eastern. If only Zayra herself didn't suck so bad. Her voice is even more grating in a lower key, and then at the end of the choruses she does this orgasm/moaning/crying thing which just gets the rest of the Nut Gallery laughing openly at her. And also me. The guitarist takes a short but wild solo, giving us all a much-needed break, and we see Jenny, Patrice, Magni, and Phil whispering cattily to each other in the Nut Gallery. When Zayra's mercifully finished (ending on a kiss noise), Gilby smirks and says that while he thinks she gives it her all, he doesn't think she has a clue as to what they're looking for as a singer. Seriously, it's like she thinks she's auditioning for Sy Snootles and the Max Rebo Band from Return of the Jedi. Before the boos in support of Zayra can really get started, she responds that they haven't told her. Um, did they have a meeting and she missed it? Because everyone else who's left seems to be up to speed. Gilby asks her whether she even owns any records that any of the judges have been on. "I've heard of your music," Zayra says, digging herself a big hole. The judges, including Dave, are like, "No, she di'int!" "I was wearing diapers when that was out," Zayra taunts. "OHHH!" Dave cries. "Snap!" The Nut Gallery loves it, as does the crowd. Zayra smiles like she won. Which, I guess she did, for now. Tommy just tells her she did a great job, and the Supernovans shake their heads and laugh. Brooke condescends, "We've got ourselves a tough group of girls." Let's hope they're waiting for her outside the auditorium after the taping's over.
Brooke's introduction of Chris refers to his "controversial" performance of Roxanne. That word...I don't think it means what you think it means. I guess it was controversial in the sense that there were those who liked it (Chris) and those who hated it (everyone else). For tonight, he's singing "Take Me Out" by Franz Ferdinand. "Take Me Out"? Is that a dare? His hair's still curly tonight, which makes me wonder if he got a perm last week. I'm sorry to say his singing hasn't improved much, and his attempt to cover the lower limits of his range on the intro by going up an octave doesn't fool anyone. Neither does his repeated reading of the line, "I know I won't be leaving here." Lukas's expression indicates that he predicts otherwise. Chris hurls himself flat on his back at the end of the song, no longer satisfied to demonstrate just one meaning of the word "flop."
Dave's review is evocative: "It almost feels like I'm watching the winner of some kind of a contest at like a charity event that got a chance to...step up there and sing a song with a great rock band." Chris asks Dave to elaborate, but then won't shut up and let him answer. Dave says that Chris needs more authenticity. Jason agrees, and says that that's the one thing that Chris needs to work on the most. Even more than singing? Maybe they all just decided that isn't going to get any better, so they're just giving up and basically telling him, "Quit being such a poseur."
Brook introduces Dilana, who's standing in the wings wrapped all Dracula-like in a velvet cape, until she spreads her wings and waggles her tongue at the camera. She certainly does have those little moments down. Dilana takes the stage and starts singing "Ring Of Fire," low and slow, with the band quietly rocking behind her and dropping in a spooky minor chord here and there. The arrangement fits Dilana's voice, which still makes Stevie Nicks sound like an opera soprano. Tommy's expression is unreadable. Although you can't tell from her performance, she's actually quite nervous about this arrangement. See, in the webisode, she was regretting choosing this song almost immediately, and even asked everyone if somebody would switch with her. But no one would, and she came up with this risky idea. After her rehearsal with the House Band, Nate the drummer was like, "It's either going to get every single vote, or no votes." Dilana herself was even more succinct: "It could be my 'Roxanne.'" Hee! She drops the cape on the first chorus, revealing a black-and-maroon Morticia Addams getup underneath. The audience is a mass of raised, waving arms, and they cheer when she's finished, leaving her bouncing in relief. So you can see her heart drop right through the stage when Dave scowls at her and says, "So you took a classic Johnny Cash song and you changed it into that?" Dilana gives him a nervous-schoolgirl smile, which is kind of incongruous in light of all the facial hardware it has to work its way through. Lukas grins, either anticipating his biggest rival's smackdown or guessing what Dave's going to say : "That was awesome!" Big cheers. Dilana's thrilled. Tommy and Gilby agree with Dave. The Nut Gallery claps dutifully. And, oh my God, do I want to play poker with Jill some time.
Brooke brings us back from commercial with an introduction for Josh, who this week "chose a tune with a little more rock" than the Black Crowes number he sang last week. And then she tells us he's singing Creed's "With Arms Wide Open." Now, both of those statements can't be true. Josh takes the stage in alt-rocker regalia: jeans, flannel shirt, and questionable jewelry. Unfortunately, this song doesn't come anywhere near showcasing his voice the way last week's did. A chick in the front row is even glaring up at him like, What have you done with my Josh? His voice comes close to being overpowered by the band, especially when he tosses in a bunch of those American Idol note runs they're always doing on that show. Thanks, Josh, but that shit's one of the reasons I don't watch AI any more. If he'd sang this last week, he wouldn't have stood out at all. And Dave agrees with me. He says that Josh is one of the best singers he's heard in a long time, "But that was kinda average." Jason not only agrees with me, but also read last week's recap, as shown by the fact that he drops a Stevie Wonder comparison. Jason tells him to be careful with that. Dave adds that if Josh does it all the time, "we build up a tolerance to it, but when you bust it out at the right moment it just gives people chills." Josh sincerely thanks Dave and everyone else for their feedback. I'm beginning to have a sneaking suspicion that Josh may be a class act. That won't do at all.
After reminding us that Phil was in the bottom three last week, Brooke tells us he's singing "If You Could Only See" by Tonic. It's the electric version, in case your local alternative radio station plays both versions like mine does. Phil's voice still has that slightly sleepy quality, and he still dances like one of those toys where you press the button on the bottom and the figure goes limp, and then you release the button and it stands up straight again. Good song for him, though. It's a "sensitive" song, which means it's meant to be sung by someone you could beat the crap out of, and Phil certainly looks like he fills that bill.
Dave says again that he likes Phil's voice, but also says again that Phil's stage presence needs work. Tommy tells Phil, "I love your swagger." And he also loves the way Phil sings. Also, "You're a good lookin' boy." What a relief that Tommy doesn't just flirt with the women. Jason disagrees with Tommy's first point. He does a little impression of Phil's "almost spineless-feeling thing," which Phil busts out a little of for the people (who love it). "But," Jason says, "I have to close my eyes in order to enjoy your voice." A shocked "Oooooh" goes through the crowd, but Jason doesn't back down; he wants Phil to "plant your feet and CRUSH IT!" Complete with demonstration. Phil promises to do that week. But not the night, which is probably wise.
Now it's Storm's turn, and she's apparently decided to go kooky this evening. She's got some kind of '80s look going on, with an off-the -shoulder top and her hair up in two high pigtails. She's singing "Surrender" by Cheap Trick. I dig the arrangement, which is noticeably faster. It starts not with the big wall of sound like the original, but with no intro and a stuttering guitar and high hat on the first verse. She makes a couple of silly faces, and then the band pops full-strength on the first chorus. Which she sings while walking slowly down the runway, dragging the microphone stand between her legs and holding onto the end of it in front of her like...well, since my parents might be reading, let's be polite and say that she's holding it like one of those toy horse heads on sticks that little kids play with. Or possibly an enormous cock. And then the mugging gets out of hand. Wisely, she avoids looking at the Supernovans during the line about "all those geezer losers of the year." She full-on roars the line about the KISS records in the last verse, and vocally she ends strong. By the way, this is Storm's second song in as many weeks that has a big key change in it. Is it too early to call that a pattern? If she picks a Barry Manilow song week, we'll know for sure. She makes this over-the-top cocky face when she's done, like she's still in character. Jason gives her credit for her energy and compliments her on having the audience in the palm of her hand in two minutes. Dave tells her she has a huge voice, but that moments of her performance were a little Broadway. "Kind of felt a little bit like Cats," Dave says. Which is where we learn that Storm also has a huge laugh. Dave clarifies, "I want you to have character; I don't want you to be a character." Apropos of nothing, which of these two do you suppose spent more time in the makeup chair before the show tonight? Just a thought. Storm thanks them and goes to stand over Brooke. Voting instructions, blah blah blah. Storm is still mugging for the audience while Brooke talks. Maybe she can't help it.
Back from commercial, Brooke tells us that Patrice "doesn't go too many places without her electric guitar." I'm thinking this should have been one of them. When Nirvana's "Heart-Shaped Box" starts up, she plays the first few notes of the intro on a green Gibson, and it's a tight enough shot that you can see the strings vibrating. But then she not only stops without any noticeable change in overall tone, but she comes in late singing the first line. So that plus the distraction of being weighed down by a guitar she's not even playing is a drawback. No complaints about her voice, though. She's playing and singing both during the chorus, having recovered nicely. Which I always think is a sign of experience and professionalism right there. There's one verse, one chorus, the coda, and she's done. Dave remarks on the dropped line, "but who cares? You sang it great." Tommy's suggestion is for her to wear her guitar lower. Patrice reminds him that she's 5'2", so he offers to buy her a longer guitar strap. Unless that comes with longer arms, I'm not sure it would help. Gilby tells her, "You do it your way, that's the only way." Patrice thanks them and tells them that they rock. Because if rock & roll is about one thing, it's about sucking up.
Brooke introduces Lukas, referring to his performance last week and his "controversial opinions." There's that word again. But now he wants to show a "softer side," so he's doing "Don't Panic" by Coldplay. The webisode showed Lukas "warning" everyone to pick a "rockin' song" when the list went up, because of course he wanted to do something different. And he succeeds; last week's performance was exciting, energizing, and even cathartic. This is the opposite of that. He starts out singing upstage behind the microphone stand, singing the first verse standing with his body all kinked out to one side like a parenthesis, his eyebrows forming a ^ on his forehead. Not the punctuation marks you think of when you think of rock & roll. When the song opens up he comes downstage, gesturing expansively but still singing kind of gutturally and with a too-fast vibrato. It's over eventually.
Dave tells Lukas that he has a foot in today's music and a foot in the future. Thanks for reminding me of that other show I recapped this summer, Dave. Jason, weirdly, goes all vocal-coach on Lukas, telling him that he's constricting himself on "open vowels." All this technical jargon coming from Jason is just too weird for Tommy, who picks his mic up off the coffee table, goes, "Shut up," and puts it back down. General hilarity, including at my house. Jason just looks at Tommy, who cracks up and tries to give Jason a kiss. Jason mock-punches him, but Tommy's totally had the piss taken out of him. Jason is completely devoid of any piss whatsoever. Lukas lies that he respects what Jason's saying, and Jason explains that while he can change his bass strings any time, Lukas has to "take care of your instrument." Fair enough. But you know that Lukas is thinking about last week, when he blew everyone away so hard that there was none of this "instrument" crap.
Ryan's turn. He's doing "Jumpin' Jack Flash," which is so out of his league. He should have mugged Phil for the Tonic song. Ryan just has this sleepy-eyed, everyman vibe that's not up for the swagger this song requires. I can maybe picture him swaggering up from the mailroom, but that's about it. He does the first verse and chorus with the microphone stand, and it sounds like the kind of cover you'd hear on the soundtrack of a movie that couldn't afford rights to the original recording. For the second verse, he climbs down from stage left into the audience, where he conspicuously fails to get mobbed. Let's see Toby try that. Ryan works his way around to the tip of the runway without anyone stealing the mic from him, and jumps back onstage with a running leap. From then on, he's more animated, running around, and singing a lot rougher. He ends with one last leap that nearly ends with him faceplanting into the kick drum. Now that would have been memorable.
Dave tells Ryan that when he started, he began to fall asleep. He holds off the boos and adds that when Ryan came out of the audience, "You had all the energy in the world." Cheers from the audience, except for the audience members that Ryan touched who had the life force mysteriously sucked out of them and are now being airlifted to Cedars-Sinai. Tommy gets up and does a little Jagger-posing. He sits back down and tells Ryan, "He's a showboat! So show me some boat!" Ryan begins to bluster, "I'm gonna show you some--" "Bitch!" Tommy amplifies. Hee. Brooke stands to the bitch and gives the instructions for if you want to vote for Patrice, Lukas, or the bitch.
Dana's performance of "Born To Be Wild" would probably blow the fucking roof off the Country Music Awards. Here, though, any rocking is entirely the responsibility of the House Band. Nate the drummer even does this dramatic, sky-high drumstick-twirl on the chorus that gets its own close-up. Dana herself, however, is more out of her depth than Ryan was. I'm sorry, the girl has pipes, and I'm sure she's a sweet kid, but this is not the right competition for her. When she's done, Gilby smirkily asks whether Dana's parents would recognize her. "Probably not," she says, most likely praying that she's right, for reasons that I'll get to in a second. Tommy has four words: "Born To Be mild." "Ow," says Dana, who knows a putdown when she hears one. That's about all she gets, though, as she defensively points out her leopard-print top and fishnet stockings. "I even headbanged, dude!" Whatever. She flipped her hair once. Tommy gives her the benefit of the doubt and decides that she's kidding (which she's not). Jason thinks that Dana has potential, calling her "great clay to work with." Dana says that she likes clay. Jason doesn't mean Play-Doh, missy.
Toby's turn. He's doing "Somebody Told Me" by the Killers, and now I get it. I get the Toby love. He's still singing way loud, but it works for this song. The verse has some tough jumps between notes, but he negotiates them with ease. Plus he's all over the stage, spilling over with energy, and he's got more grit in his voice than Brandon Flowers does. The only weak point is when he goes quieter on the first line of the bridge, and his voice gets kind of high and nasal. Which explains why he oversang last week. But something tells me that a limited dynamic range isn't going to be too much of an obstacle with Supernova. The crowd loves it. Gilby tells him that Toby's a great example of picking the right song. "Thank you for that," he says, then barely remembers to add, "Mate." Tommy remarks that the girls love Toby, and they shriek their agreement. It's Tobymania. He returns the sentiment. Dave tells him, "Vocally, you are dialed." Can't argue with that.
Brooke tells us voting is open. There's one last commercial, and Brooke throws the names of the initial bottom three up on the screen. In no particular order, as always, they are Jill, Chris, and Zayra. I'd be worried about Jill if I didn't know that she's going to bring it tomorrow night.
Wednesday
Jill brings it. But first:
Brooke welcomes us to the show, and then, for the first time, we get the show's title sequence. It is, naturally, a montage of Supernova and the Supernovices, but the surprising part is that they kept last year's theme song. Which is, of course, "New Sensation" by INXS. So amid the glamour shots of the Supernovices and assorted musical equipment, we're treated to the likes of Tommy, Gilby, and Jason being edited to look like they're rocking out to an '80s new wave tune. Can't imagine they were too thrilled about that.
Coming back to the studio, Brooke tells the cheering crowd and Supernovices that voting was up nearly 40% from last week. Up from the lowest-rated week of television in history? How can that be? Anyway, Brooke explains the show and how one of the Supernovices is getting the boot tonight, then introduces Supernova, ending with the "ever-unpredictable Tommy Lee." Tommy loves that, just like I knew he would. Brooke introduces Dave, who flirts with Brooke extra because he totally forgot to last night. Brooke asks Tommy how he feels, and Tommy asks the "peeps" how they feel. Seems like everyone feels good. Brooke explains that after last night's voting, the Supernovices with the least votes will each have to sing another song (Zayra) for Supernova, and then they'll decide which of the three goes home. But first, Brooke wants to give us a little recap of last night, once again overusing the word "controversial" to describe some of the comments made.
Clips from last night: Magni kicked it off with "My Generation" and got props from Jason; Dilana did "Ring of Fire" and got props from everyone; Toby wrapped it up with "Somebody Told Me" and got more props than the World War II Air Force. Zayra did...something...to "You Really Got Me," and Gilby told her she really doesn't get it. She sassed back. Chris did "Take Me Out," and got dissed by Dave, but disguised his sass as eagerness to learn. Jill gave Jason a headache with her Courtney Love headache, and then denied ripping her off when Dave tried to call her on it. Lukas growled a Coldplay tune, and Jason told him to be careful with his voice.
Then, back at the mansion, the Supernovices "reeled" from their feedback over dinner. According to the editing, Lukas is the first to complain, saying that he's been singing the way Jason told him not to all his life: "My voice is not his voice." We don't see anyone asking him who he thinks will be in the bottom three this week. And then Lukas reiterates his position in an interview. Perhaps week when he sings he'll decide to abandon the House Band entirely in favor of being backed by a tiny little violin. Jill admits to her tablemates and to the interview camera that she got pissed off at the comments she received. "I thought of things that I really wanted to say," she says to the interview camera, "And it was too late." Isn't that just always the way? Toby Aussies that he's going to act on whatever advice they gave him: "I'm not gonna be pigheaded and go, 'I'm not changing for no one,' because we're here to learn." Thanks for the lecture, Mr. Humble. It would mean more if he'd gotten any advice beyond "Dude, you rock," though. Not that anyone points that out. Out by the pool, Chris has buttonholed poor Dilana, complaining to her and to the interview camera that he still doesn't get what Dave was trying to say.
Back at the studio, Brooke tells the Supernovices that "I love that you're expressing yourselves." I'm sure they're relieved to hear it. Brooke asks what Dave thinks of what they just saw. Dave's answer is to ask Chris a question: "What didn't I say that you were looking for me to say to you?" They hash out the whole conversation from last night again, and Chris now says that he's had a chance to let it soak in, and he's going to "bust my ass" to get better every week. "Right on," Dave tells him. And now they're BFF again. Gilby asks Zayra whether she thinks it's important to be familiar with their music. She hairsplits that she said she'd heard of their music, which is different from Gilby's question as to whether she owned any of their records. Gilby's question stands, though, so Zayra starts babbling, and is there any worse place in the universe than an American reality show for someone who's kind of still learning English? She calls the Supernovans a "description of a decade" and "worldwide domination," saying that she admires them, and hopes that they'll give her a chance. Gilby says that they're looking for a good fit, which is why it's important to have a singer who's familiar with their style of music. Zayra reminds Gilby that she's from Puerto Rico, where they couldn't get full albums and had to make do with 45s. Gilby shuts up, feeling like an ass for giving a hard time to somebody who he suddenly sees as a poverty-stricken third-worlder. Over cheers of approval for Zayra, Dave jokingly explains what a 45 is: "Back then, it was known as a 'record.' They don't make 'em any more." Tommy clarifies, "45 revolutions per second" (emphasis mine). Dave tells him that he's exactly right. How soon they forget.
The codgerly hijinks over for the moment, Dave turns to Jill, compliments her on her straight hair tonight, and gives her her chance to say what she wanted to say last night. But like Chris, she's not looking for a fight now, and claims that while she expected comments, and was affected by them "for a moment in time," she let them soak in to become "fuel for my fire" and be better for time.
Jason gets a turn to address the Supernovices, and the first thing he wants to do is tell Lukas that "these are not personal attacks...I only want to help you." Lukas mumbles an acknowledgment. Jason acknowledges that Lukas has been singing that way for fifteen years, and says, "Fifteen years ago, I was touring the world with the most successful gravel-voiced metal performer there's ever been, on the biggest metal album of all time." Cheers for Jason's boasting. He tells Lukas that their shows ran 2:45 (which makes me glad I don't recap those), and that their goal was always to make the last song better than the first one. He insists that it's all positive, trying to make everyone better, as he makes a sweeping gesture that takes in both the Nut Gallery and Supernova themselves. But of course, Lukas needs to have the last word, so he defensively says that he wasn't being defensive.
Speaking of which, Tommy tells Toby that he has a good head on his shoulders, "Mate." Toby restates his position that he's there to listen. "You can't buy this type of advice," he says. "So I was just trying to keep everyone grounded." Again, big talk from the one guy who hasn't actually received any criticism yet. Tommy tells them that he appreciates the back-and-forth, but wants them to remember, "You're sitting there, we're sitting here." Kind of forceful there. Toby starts to suck up some more, but Tommy's in firm-dad mode and shuts him down with a terse thank-you. Way to lay down the law, Tommy. Because these kids need to understand that if there's one thing that rock & roll is all about, it's obedience.
Tommy gets to announce the night's encore performance at this point, and it's Toby. He does "Somebody Told Me" again. It's really good again. I don't feel like giving a whole encore recap of it. Pretty much the big difference from last night is that he does that thing where you hold out the microphone to the audience and let them sing the first line of the chorus. I'm actually kind of surprised it took somebody this long to think of doing that. As he makes his way back to the Nut Gallery, Brooke warns him that nobody is safe from the bottom three. I don't know, I think Toby is. Speaking of the bottom three, it's time for Brooke to tell them who the initial bottom three were from last night, because unlike us, they don't already know. Brooke milks it as usual as she reads off the names Jill, Chris, and Zayra, who stand up stoically. Brooke asks us if they stayed in the bottom three as of the end of voting, but of course we're going to have to wait until after the commercial to find out. Don't worry, it'll be over before you know it.
There, See how quick that was? Jill, Zayra, and Chris are standing behind the Nut Gallery, in ascending order of height. Brooke gives her spiel that the bottom three changed, and one other person was in the bottom three at some point. Only one? That suggests to me that they're not making it all up, at least. This week, the fourth member of the bottom four is Jenny. "Which means that the ten of you sitting are safe for another week," Brooke says. She tells the bottom four that she's going to call the bottom three one by one, and they'll each have to sing another song for Supernova. Isn't it great how every week, we get to hear the worst singers twice?
And the first bottom three Supernovice is Jill. This week, instead of crossing downstage, they're cutting through the audience to get from the Nut Gallery to the end of the runway where Brooke is standing. Once Jill takes her place beneath Brooke, they roll a clip of last night's Jill performance, and the ensuing comments from the judges. Click back a few pages if you need to be reminded. Back from the clip, Tommy tells Jill she looks great tonight (and she does look nice, not in costume or anything), and asks her what she's going to sing after last night's screaming. Jill says she's going to do "Bring Me to Life" by Evanescence. When Tommy asks why, she verbosely waxes that it's a dark and heavy song, but with a melody that will let her show a different side of her voice. Tommy gives her the green light.
Remember how Zayra did this song last week? This is better. Jill plays it straight and safe, but she's got a big enough voice to do it without all the theatrics. Lots of close-ups of Supernova conferring, and even more close-ups of Zayra looking pissed. This is, you'll recall, the second time in as many nights that Jill did a song better than Zayra could have. That must get old in a hurry. Jill finishes up on a big note, and her smile says she knows she did good. We'll have to wait until later to hear the judges comments.
Back from commercial, Brooke reads the name of the second person in the bottom three: Zayra. No surprise there. After a clip of her key-challenged performance and her dust-up with the judges that followed, Brooke asks Gilby whether he still stands behind what he said last night. Gilby's actually still laughing. "That was classic," he admits. And then he asks "Zaheeda," as he calls her, if she's surprised to be in the bottom three. She extravagantly claims that she is. But come on, what's she going to say? "I sucked so bad that I expected to be the bottom three?" I don't think so. Gilby says that the upside is that now she gets a chance to do something different and change their minds. Which Zayra plans to do by...singing the exact same song she did last night. Oh, dear, no. I guess she really is surprised to be here. Or just lazy.
Actually, this second performance is really not as bad as last night. Zayra's had enough time to actually find the key by now. She also hits a lot more of the actual notes, which detracts less from the arrangement, and except for one scream on the first chorus, she has herself a little more under control. It's a more confident performance in general. Gilby laughs openly at her spastic dancing during the guitar solo. This time she ends with a pant instead of a kiss, and Jason's on his feet again. I find his Zayra-goggles tiresome. But then most of the Nut Gallery is giving her a standing O as well. Maybe she sounds a lot better if you're there. Commercials.
Now that Jill and Zayra are finished and standing over on stage left, only Chris and Jenny remain in the bottom four. And nice job with the suspense there. I'd be much more likely to believe that Jill escaped the bottom three than Chris. Maybe there was some doubt in some people's minds, as long as those people were Chris. Anyway, after about a minute, Brooke says Jenny's name. One person starts clapping maniacally, and Brooke tells her she's safe. While Patrice hugs Jenny like they both just dodged a meteor, Chris heads over to the stage and remarks, "I'm starting to get used to this walk." Don't worry, Chris, it can't happen every week. Brooke has them roll a short clip of his performance, followed by his discussion with the judges. Once that's over, Jason tells Chris that he appreciates the way Chris is handling things and setting a good example for the rest of the Supernovices. Because if there's one thing rock & roll is about, it's setting a good example. As far as tonight's song, Chris tells him that since the guys want to see the real him, he's going to strip down. Ew, not like that, you screaming pervs in the audience! What he means is that he's going to do an acoustic version of "If You Could Only See," the song that Phil did last night. Jason tells him that's a good idea, and cuts him loose.
The band's lined up on the stage behind Chris like they were with Toby on his acoustic performance last week. Interesting that Chris's method of showing us the "real Chris" is to copy both Phil and Toby. The song starts, and he's a lot less obnoxious at lower volume, although his pitch and inflection still aren't great. Of course, he's got a big hole to dig out of, so maybe I'd appreciate this more if I weren't aware of how much sucking he's done before. The judges are blatantly talking to each other throughout the whole performance, right to the end. I guess he gave Jill a pretty good run for "most improved."
The crowd claps and cheers, the Supernovices get to their feet, and as part of his acknowledgment, Chris gestures to Jill and Zayra to join him onstage. Amusingly, neither of them moves. Brooke tells as that when we come back, Supernova will decide which of the final three is finished. We can see them huddling in the background, and the thing you know they're rock-paper-scissoring (although they're too far back to see who wins). The camera guy frantically swings around Brooke to get them out of the shot in the background. And then they're done deliberating anyway. Must have been a tough one tonight.
When we come back, the final three are standing on the stage, while Supernova pretends to finish deliberating for the cameras. Brooke says that it's time for them to cut somebody loose, and turns the floor over to them. Gilby starts out, telling Jill that she has a strong voice, but it kind of "shocked" them when she came out with "this whole different look." Because if there's one thing that rock & roll is all about, it's about never shocking anyone. Gilby tells "Zaheyda" that they appreciates her performance, but "It upsets us a little that you didn't do you're homework." Because what is rock & roll all about if not homework? Off-mic, Zayra says something even more unclearly than usual, then asks, "Why don't you teach me?" Only the people in the front of the audience hear it, but their cheering prompts Tommy to ask her to repeat it. "Nothing," she laughs shyly. Gilby turns to Chris and says that they appreciate all the changes he's made. "But being in the bottom three two weeks in a row? I gotta tell you, it's a little tough to ignore." Anyway, it's time. So Tommy milks it, thundering spookily into his mic, "Everybody say hello to the Hatchet Man!" And then he gets up and pretends to chop up the coffee table with his microphone. He sits down again and claims, "God, this sucks." Yes, all this attention he's getting must be physically painful to him.
Tommy tells Jill that she's safe. Dilana and Storm practically pee themselves in relief as Jill makes her way back to the Nut Gallery amid cheers. Tommy tells Chris and Zayra, standing arm in arm, that he loves them both. "T-Lee, you're always my boy," Chris sucks up, sending Tommy into a mini guilt-spiral that's a total giveaway. Tommy collects himself, tells them that one of them "didn't cut it," and says that Chris is the second to go.
Chris gives Zayra a hug and a kiss. Storm buries her face in her hands. She must hate Zayra so much. And it looks like she's not the only one, because the only way she gets anyone to touch her when she returns to the Nut Gallery is to sprawl across several laps. Dave tells Chris that his "willingness to take constructive criticism and your level of humility is a rare thing in this game." He also thinks that Chris's performance tonight was his best yet. Chris gets his moment to say his piece, and he stalls with a few clichés before saying that he's not quitting yet. The music business, he means, not the contest. I don't think he has a choice about that second thing. He says he appreciates being given a shot and getting to meet the guys. "I'm never gonna forget this," he concludes. Gilby asks him if he's had fun, and Chris lies that it's been nothing but. More applause. The Supernovices get to their feet, even Lukas, after he's ascertained that he's the only one still sitting. Jason wants to say one more thing: namely, he basically wants to agree with Chris that Supernova is awesome for giving Chris all this invaluable advice and a leg up in the biz, acting as a stepping stone for his career. He also appreciates Chris's attitude and tells the Supernovices that he's a good example for all of them. Aside from how they're still in the game and he's not, Jason doesn't add. Tommy again says that there are no losers at this level, and wishes Chris luck. "I'm sorry to be that guy," Tommy finishes. Does he mean tonight, or for the past twenty-odd years? Chris just wants to mention his first solo EP that he recorded seven years ago just happened to be called Stepping Stones. Nice try, Chris, but I'm not linking to your Amazon page. Even if I could find it, which I can't.
As Chris goes over to say goodbye to the other Supernovices, Brooke tells us that if we don't like it, we can vote. You know, actually I'm cool with it. Zayra can go down week.
Post-eviction interviews: Jill says that she's glad for second chance, that she took a risk, and also that she showed tonight that she's not just a screamer. Zayra says that she's sad to see Chris go, and isn't worried about herself: "I can assure you that Supernova definitely needs some Latin fire. Come on!" I don't know, lots of bands seem to do okay without any Latin fire. Los Lonely Boys, for instance.